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CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

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Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#261

Post by thakoppno »

jffry wrote: post #248
thakoppno wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> plug it into the computer’s power strip, then unplug the power strip from the wall For additional opsec, plug your computer directly into wall socket? That is new to me but interesting nonetheless.

Depends on your country's wall outlet designs. In the US it would be pretty easy to partially remove the plug from the wall outlet, exposing the bare prongs without disconnecting them from the outlet. Then you just supply A/C power of your own before unplugging fully from the wall outlet.

Interesting - surely then one would wire the faceplate in a way that it would disable the circuit should it be removed.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#262

Post by kwhitefoot »

flyinghamster wrote: post #169

I've heard of these referred to as "Jesus cords," as in you're going to meet Him soon if you mishandle it. But really, if you're going to hook your house up to a generator, you should have a proper transfer switch installed. You don't want to risk energizing the neighborhood distribution lines by feeding power into them. Those transformers work both ways.

How is your poxy little 3 kVA portable genny going to power the local network without tripping its own breaker?

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#263

Post by jrockway »

xani_ wrote: post #241
kube-system wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it was done as a result of incidents during wildfires. People lost power, couldn't open their garage door, and died in their home. It does make sense for accessibility reasons.

I'm not sure that's cheaper than putting extra door in... certainly more after battery dies and needs to be replaced.

I think the problem was not being able to get their car out of the garage? Walking speed isn't fast enough to escape a wildfire, I guess?

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#264

Post by JoeAltmaier »

jrockway wrote: post #263
xani_ wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure that's cheaper than putting extra door in... certainly more after battery dies and needs to be replaced.

I think the problem was not being able to get their car out of the garage? Walking speed isn't fast enough to escape a wildfire, I guess?

No way - fire can spread at from 10-20mph.

Little-known way to save yourself, and all it takes is a match. Start a fire where you are, let it burn downwind. Follow it.

See, the fuel is burned there, and the approaching wildfire will have to go around your new dead spot!

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#265

Post by kwhitefoot »

hajile wrote: post #89

It's not mentioned, but this is DEADLY for innocent linemen too. They check the line before working and it's dead. They start work and some idiot without a proper transfer switch backfeeds through the transformer hitting them with 14k volts.

There is no way the kind of portable generator that most ordinary people would buy could energize a transformer that steps up to 14 kV. I suppose it might just be possible for the little pole mounted 50kVA ones that are common in many rural areas of the world but they generally don't step up to 14 kV. Most such transformers would look like a dead short to such piddling little generators

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#266

Post by CodeWriter23 »

aequitas wrote: post #139
CodeWriter23 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Likely due to neutral not being tied to a cold water pipe.

In my country (NL) it is advised against that (though it used to be common practice), since a bit of water pipe running from your house might have been replaced with a plastic one and the metal bit still sticking out into your house might not have the proper ground resistance to function as a proper earth wire.

Look down and see if the metal pipe is going into the ground? At least in cases where the different services enter the premise in close proximity.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#268

Post by riffic »

birdman3131 wrote: post #118
TIPSIO wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really interesting... What are people doing with their lights where this would ever come up though? Edit: From reddit, a use case is found [1]: > They’re actually used my law enforcement whenever they do a raid and seize a computer. If they turn the computer off, they’ll have to try and get past a password. And if the hard drive is encrypted, they’re basically SOL. > This can be a real issue for things like drug deal…

Suicide cords are not that dangerous when used by a professional. But when used by somebody not respectful and knowledgeable they become quite dangerous. The catch is that 95% of professionals would find another way to do it. As far as the police example that can be safer than you think. The power supply can be set to not apply power to the plug end until it senses power or you manually hit a switch. But you still ha…

the 5 percent of professionals who insist on doing things the bad way deserve the consequences and subsequent removal of previously applied "professional" status.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#269

Post by bitbang »

sC3DX wrote: post #158
TIPSIO wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really interesting... What are people doing with their lights where this would ever come up though? Edit: From reddit, a use case is found [1]: > They’re actually used my law enforcement whenever they do a raid and seize a computer. If they turn the computer off, they’ll have to try and get past a password. And if the hard drive is encrypted, they’re basically SOL. > This can be a real issue for things like drug deal…

Funny seeing the /r/livesound link. Worked in live entertainment for a while. One cable we would use a lot is called a 'two-fer', it has one male and that splits to two female ends (so you can plug two fixtures into one outlet or dimmer). There also exists a 'suicide two-fer' that is the opposite, you can imagine why it has that name. I believe I've also seen some 'suicide' cable setups when we needed to make multi-p…

Suicide cable joins two 120v (from different phases) to a 208v. Most high powered lighting fixtures require 208. Super illegal, but often facilities do not have the correct electrical setup and people use this to get around it. I almost got cooked but one of those when a stagehand unplugged it without waiting till power was shut off. Contacted and electrified the whole truss.

Re: CPSC warns consumers to stop using male-to-male extension cords sold on Amazon

#270

Post by mikestew »

guywithahat wrote: post #48
elzbardico wrote: post #27

How can folks not see that using such contraption is obviously a shitty idea? That’s why we need to completely overhaul the teaching of physics in middle and high school. Every citizen should have at least a basic understanding of basic physical concepts that allow then to understand why this kind of thing is a bad idea

I mean most people know it's a terrible idea, it's just that 0.1% of a population of 330 million people is 330k people, and I don't think that 0.1% is from a failure of our education system

Your estimate could be extremely high. What those quick with a dismissive comment forget is that 15% of the population has an IQ of 85 or less. So to answer the FAANG-employed Stanford grad's question of "how could anyone be this stupid?": easy, a non-trivial percentage of them are born that way.

Regardless, there are plenty of my Microsoft/Google/FB-employed neighbors that I wouldn't trust around anything more dangerous than what comes out of a USB port, either.

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